


Sugar Plum

by lily_of_the_valley268121



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ballet, Angst, Background Relationships, Ballet, Christmas Fluff, Dancer Oikawa Tooru, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nicknames, No Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, References to The Nutcracker, Sassy Oikawa Tooru, also i kin oikawa this is a mess, i dont know much about ballet and it shows, ill go easy on the hurt and focus on comfort, iwaizumi is decently stable, kiyoko uses she/they pronouns, oikawa has issues, you can tell im projecting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26766676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lily_of_the_valley268121/pseuds/lily_of_the_valley268121
Summary: Oikawa Tooru’s love for the stage has made his love life suffer. His devotion to ballet leaves little time for relationships, but who needs romance when you can be the lead in nearly every production you’ve ever been in? His newest role as Clara in The Nutcracker is nothing unexpected, but things are different this time. The old stage manager knew Oikawa since he started to learn ballet, but with a new face running the show things are a bit different. But maybe, just maybe, he can finally find someone who values ballet just as much as he does.Iwaizumi Hajime has never been one to enjoy life under the lights. After moving to a new city, he takes over for his grandpa as the stage manager of a local ballet studio. He’s handled everything that’s been thrown at him for years, but the bold lead of the production might just be the worst thing yet. Or so he thinks...but maybe there’s more to the brown-haired brat than he first thought.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime & Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Shimizu Kiyoko/Yachi Hitoka, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter One: Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> I go back and edit previous chapters sometimes so you might want to reread those when I add a new one. Hope you all enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iwaizumi meets the gang, but most importantly, he meets Oikawa.

**Hajime Iwaizumi**

Iwaizumi locks his apartment door behind him and finishes zipping up his coat. It was a bit chilly that morning with autumn approaching.  _ At least the studio isn’t too far away.  _ He walks down the street looking at the surrounding buildings, and he notices a small café populated by a small, steady stream of people. The sign overhead titles “Mr. Vanilla’s Coffee” and Iwaizumi spots a tall, blond boy with glasses helping a shorter, green-haired boy clean up a dropped cup.  _ Maybe I should stop in there one of these days. Seems decently quiet, even if the occasional spill happens.  _ He keeps walking, watching the sun rise over the rooftops. He hadn’t lived in a bigger city in quite some time. His old job was as the stage manager of the only theatre in a very small town. After the theatre shut down he was left unemployed, but his grandfather heard of his predicament and gave him a call. Due to the man’s old age, he had decided to retire, but he hadn’t been able to find a suitable replacement for himself. That is, until he realized his grandson would be an excellent choice. Today, Iwaizumi was going into the ballet studio to meet with his grandfather and to meet the people he would be working with. 

After about a twenty minute walk Iwaizumi arrives at the studio. It’s a small, single-level building in between a clothing store and a bakery.  _ Here we go.  _ He walks in and is immediately greeted with a smile by an older man with gray hair.

“Hajime! I’m so glad to see you again,” he says, “How’ve you been holding up?”

“Hey, grandpa, I’ve been doing well. How about you?”

“I’ve been holding up. I’m ready to be retired, though” he admits. 

Iwaizumi hadn’t seen his grandfather in a couple years, but he looks to be in good health still. The man has a certain air of wisdom and experience about him, but it’s easy to forget that he was a Danseur Noble before his arthritis and old age kept him from performing. 

Iwaizumi looked around the room. The entrance he came through led to a large hallway with a door at the end and a set of double doors on his right. The hallway had minimal decorations, except for a few plants, but he noticed something along the left wall. There was a whole collage of pictures with the oldest one seeming to be from at least fifty years ago. Iwaizumi was ripped from his thoughts as his grandfather started speaking again. 

“We’ve got a good team here, Hajime. They can be a bit rambunctious, but they work hard, and they care about what they do here,” the old man explains. “You’ll meet most of the tech crew later, but all of our main dancers are here today. And of course our star performer is here today as well. Tell me, do you like a challenge?”

“Challenges are part of being a stage manager, but why do you ask?” 

“You’ll see,” he chuckles. 

“Anyway, let’s introduce you to the team,” he says as he pushes open the double doors off the main entrance hallway. The studio itself isn’t the largest Iwaizumi had ever seen, but it was larger than most. It had plain white walls with mirrors covering one side and a barre two other walls. There were two small doors in the back of the room that Iwaizumi presumed led to the storage room and the changing room respectively. There was a group of dancers in one corner that seemed to be having a quiet conversation which greatly contradicted the energy coming from the two men a short distance away. The two seemed to be having some sort of competition of who could stretch their leg over their head the furthest. The short, ginger seemed to be winning based on sheer determination, but he looked to be in a bit of pain. The taller, black-haired man gave up shortly after, and defeat showed on his face. 

“Don’t forget, Hinata, that I’m still winning 34-32.”

“Nope, you’re only winning by one, Kageyama. The score is 34-33 now.”

The older man looks hopelessly towards the pair. 

“Those two troublemakers are Hinata and Kageyama. They’re both excellent dancers but very competitive with each other. I have to admit, though, their duet performances are some of the best I’ve ever seen. I’ll have to show you a video or two of them later,” he shakes his head at the two and moves on. 

Next he looks toward the quiet group in the corner. The people give off a friendly, familial feeling and welcome Iwaizumi and the old man over with a smile. 

“Is this your grandson?” asks a short boy with dyed hair that seems to stick straight up.

“No, Noya, it’s clearly his great aunt,” comments a guy from the back of the group. 

“Hajime, this is Nishinoya, and the one in the corner is Tanaka. And yes, this is in fact my grandson. The others in the group are Sugawara, Asahi, Ennoshita, Kinoshita, Narita, and Daichi,” explains the old man. Each person sends a nod or a wave towards Iwaizumi.  _ Those two from before were a bit odd, but this group seems fairly easy to work with.  _

Suddenly, Iwaizumi feels a soft tap on his shoulder. He turns around and sees two girls. One is very clearly nervous and is half-hiding behind the first girl. 

“Hello, I’m Kiyoko. I’d like to introduce Yachi as well. We’re both here for anything you need help with, but we mostly help the tech crews when they need it. I hope you enjoy working here,” they state while walking away. Before she leaves, the girl named Yachi gives a small wave, and Iwaizumi sends a tiny one back. 

“Our ballet studio is an all-male studio, but that only applies to the dancers. Kiyoko has been a loyal helper here for years, but Yachi just joined a couple months ago. She’s still getting used to the team and how everything works,” says the old man. “Generally, Kiyoko manages communicating with other ballet studios as well for larger performances. They don’t give themself enough credit for what they do.”

Iwaizumi nods.  _ Yachi seemed pretty intimidated by me. I hope I can fix that soon.  _

“Where’s that star performer you mentioned?” asks Iwaizumi. 

“He’s over there,” he points across the room, “looks like he’s almost done warming up.” 

Iwaizumi looks to the other side of the room and his brain immediately short circuits. Not only was the man breathtaking, but the way he moved was nothing like he had ever seen. What he used to warm up is what beginner dancers would consider performance level. Iwaizumi had never seen such amazing technique in a person that was only in their young twenties. The subtle control and stability of the man astounded Iwaizumi. Not to mention how graceful each step was. He was in such shock at the talent that he didn’t realize the dancer was done and walking over. 

“Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies,” said the dancer, sending a wink towards Iwaizumi.  _ I take it all back. This guy is an idiot.  _ Iwaizumi immediately went stone-faced. 

“It was acceptable at best,” he said with a skeptic look at the man.

“Oh, how you wound me,” responds the dancer, with a hand over his heart, “The name’s Oikawa Tooru.” 

“Iwaizumi Hajime.”

Oikawa holds out a hand and Iwaizumi reluctantly shakes it.  _ This is definitely the challenge Grandpa mentioned.  _ Oikawa smirked at him and Iwaizumi felt a growing hate for the man already.

“Good to see you two are already bonding,” says the old man cheerfully. He waves Oikawa off and guides Iwaizumi back out the double doors to the small office room. Iwaizumi can’t help but look back at the man walking away.  _ Can someone with that much talent really be that much of a brat? _

“You’ve got your work cut out for you, but I know you can handle it. Oikawa may seem like a bit much, but he really cares about ballet. I’ll be stopping by when I can to check on you, but feel free to call me anytime with questions.”

“Thank you for showing me around today. I can’t wait to get to know every dancer better and to meet the tech crew,” responds Iwaizumi, still thinking of Oikawa. He takes this as his cue to leave and heads for the door. He steps out and takes a breath of fresh air. The smell of the next door bakery made his stomach grumble. He started his walk home with only one thought in his head. 

_ This is definitely going to be a challenge.  _


	2. Chapter Two: First Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first chapter, but from Oikawa's perspective. We get an insight to his daily life and his first thoughts of Iwaizumi.

**Oikawa Tooru**

Oikawa groaned as he reached for his screaming alarm clock. The clock showed 6:45am and a soft light was just beginning to enter his bedroom. Well, actually the whole room was his bedroom. The two-story studio apartment was square in shape with a window taking up the entire wall opposite the door. The first floor had a bathroom to the immediate left of the entrance door. To the right of the door was the kitchen with a small dining table nearby. On the far right of the room, next to the window, was a couch and a flatscreen tv. The far left of the room had the staircase to the second floor. The second floor only took up the left half of the room and instead of walls it had a long railing along the edge. Between the staircase and the bathroom was a full length mirror, like the ones in ballet studios, with a barre attached. The second floor had a bed, a nightstand, and a dresser. The apartment as a whole was relatively clean and modern, but the walls were mostly taken up with pictures of shows Oikawa had performed in. Except for the wall of the bathroom near the mirror. That one had a collection of family pictures. 

Oikawa got up and stretched. He slowly meandered downstairs and started a pot of coffee.  _ God, how do I do this everyday.  _ He sighs and heads to the bathroom. After a quick shower, he grabs a cup of coffee and gets to work on making himself breakfast. Little known fact, Oikawa can’t cook. He’s tried countless times, but he’s never been able to do better than making scrambled eggs that aren’t burnt or overcooked.  _ You’ve got this, Tooru.  _ He grabs a pan and some eggs to begin an attempt at an omelet. By the end, he just ended up making scrambled eggs again. After the eggs he grabs some yogurt and works on filling up his water bottle. He finishes the yogurt, grabs a light jacket, and heads for the door. His daily jog takes him on a well-worn path down his street. He waves at his neighbor who’s taking a cigarette break near the alleyway. 

“Morning, Mr. Ukai,” he says respectfully. The man runs a convenience store near the studio, so he’s familiar with Oikawa. Oikawa’s jog takes him through the neighborhood, a place of mostly residential buildings except for the occasional coffee shop or boutique. Speaking of coffee shops, he jogs past his favorite café to stop at on his days off. One of the workers is cleaning off a table outside.

“Hey, Yams, if you scrub any harder the table is going to disintegrate,” he says with a laugh. 

“Very funny, Oikawa,” says Yamaguchi sarcastically.

Oikawa chuckles to himself and keeps jogging. He goes for about ten more minutes on this road before taking a right and jogging back towards the street his apartment is on. The rest of the jog is uneventful and he arrives back home shortly after. By this time, he has about an hour before he needs to be at the studio. He flips the tv on and watches a rerun of his favorite sitcom. Before long, it’s time for him to get moving. He grabs his bag and heads back out the door. His car is a bit of a beater, but he takes care of it and can’t let go of the thing. His drive only takes him about ten minutes and then he’s at the studio. He always arrives a bit early so the studio is still empty. He goes to change and he can hear everyone else shuffle into the building. Before leaving the changing room he takes a big breath and puts on a smile. 

“Good morning, everyone! I know you all missed me greatly over the weekend,” he says cheerfully.

“Of course, we did. Who wouldn’t miss the Almighty Oikawa,” jokes Tanaka while rolling his eyes. “Anyway, where’s the old man at?”

“He’s waiting for his grandson to get here, so we can all meet him,” chimes Oikawa. 

All of the dancers split off into groups to talk while they warm up except Oikawa. He’s just finishing warming up when the double doors open and two people walk in. Oikawa sees the old man and--

_ Who is that? _

Oikawa forgets the exercise he’s doing as he takes in the person he reasons is the grandson. He has slightly spiky, dark brown hair, but Oikawa can’t seem to make out what color his eyes were yet. He’s tall, but, to Oikawa’s satisfaction, he was still shorter than Oikawa.  _ Holy shit are those some muscles.  _ The man’s whole body was corded with muscle. While Oikawa might be muscular, he was still fairly petite which helped him play more feminine roles. This man, on the other hand, had the broad shoulders and muscles of a man who wasn’t just a stage manager. Oikawa shook himself and continued doing his last exercise.  _ Well, muscle man, you’re in for a show.  _ As the man finished speaking with Kiyoko, Oikawa got into position to begin a routine he did two years ago at an audition for the lead role in _ La Sylphide _ . As he started the routine, he forgot all about the man, and could only think of the feeling as he leaped and spun across the studio. 

When he finished, he remembered his audience and immediately began to walk over. He felt a genuine smile on his face when he saw the shock on the man’s face.  _ Time to work my magic. _

“Close your mouth, you’ll catch flies,” he said as he winked at the man. The man immediately closed himself back off and glared at Oikawa. 

“It was acceptable at best,” he said coldly.

“Oh, how you wound me,” responds Oikawa, with a hand over his heart, “The name’s Oikawa Tooru.” He holds out a hand towards the man and he can tell the other man is reluctant to accept the handshake. The old man then waves Oikawa off.  _ Rude. He didn’t even tell me his name. _ He walks back to where he was before with a disappointed look on his face. 

After practice is done for the day, Oikawa finishes changing back into his street clothes before heading towards the old man’s office. 

“So, are things going to be any different with the new guy in charge?” asks Oikawa.

“Shouldn’t be too different,” responds the old man, “We’ll be partnering with Shiratorizawa Theater for our upcoming performance of  _ The Nutcracker. _ Auditions for that will be some time in the following two weeks, don’t forget. With Kiyoko’s help, Hajime will be in contact with Saeko Tanaka to manage the orchestra and Tetsuro Kuroo for the tech crews. He’ll mostly be working here with you until stage rehearsals begin. He may not be on your level, but he’s done his time and he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to ballet. I know you’ve done  _ The Nutcracker  _ before, but, if my memory is correct, it’s been a few years, so you’ll need some refreshing.”

Oikawa nods in agreement, thinking all of this over.  _ Why does it have to be Shiratorizawa?  _ He was all too familiar with the dancers at that theater. Their dancer, Wakatoshi Ushijima, had hounded Oikawa about signing on at the Shiratorizawa Theater for years, but he always refused. After graduating from the Aoba Johsai School of Ballet, most of his classmates had gone to the theater, but Oikawa didn’t. He has never regretted the decision, but he does miss his classmates every once in a while. 

“I’ll see you around,” says Oikawa as he walks toward the door. 

“Don’t be too difficult for my grandson, Oikawa” says the old man with a chuckle. 

The drive home is uneventful, but Oikawa can’t stop thinking about the mysterious new man.  _ I don’t even know his name yet.  _ As he enters his apartment, he turns on a couple lamps. The overhead lighting is too bright for him usually, so he rarely uses it. After turning on the lights, he puts on a playlist of classical music. Vivaldi’s  _ Four Seasons  _ begins to play, the melody of spring filling the room. He grabs himself a glass of water and gets to work on preparing supper. Tonight’s course is a small serving of tofu with a side of vegetables. By the time he’s done cleaning up from supper, it’s about 6:00pm. The light coming through the window is getting dimmer and dimmer with each passing minute. Oikawa grabs a book and settles in on his couch. After an hour, he looks over to see the moon slowly rising over the nearby rooftops. He gets up and takes a quick shower, brushing his teeth after.  _ One more day down.  _ He heads up to the second level and puts on a pair of pajama pants and crawls into bed.  _ What will tomorrow bring? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things will pick up after this, but I just had to make sure y'all had a feel for how I characterize Oikawa and also how the whole production is gonna work.


End file.
